Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement
Discovering the Movement of God in the Archaeological Record of Asia Minor
- History & Biography
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Religions, politics, and education shaped the cultural world of Asia Minor where a new faith emerged that would change history. Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement uncovers how the earliest Christians navigated—and often disrupted and adapted—the dominant forces of their age. Drawing on decades of research, fieldwork, and teaching, Michael T. Cooper takes readers beneath the surface of Ephesos, Smyrna, Pergamon, and other cities to reveal how temples, inscriptions, and civic spaces illuminate the missionary impulse of the first Christians. Far from being silent, the archaeological record testifies to their resilience, creativity, and bold proclamation of the gospel in a world saturated with competing loyalties. This is more than history. By examining how the early church encountered powerful religious traditions, political ideologies, and systems of education, today’s missionaries and church leaders gain fresh vision for gospel engagement in their own pluralistic and contested contexts. The dynamics that shaped mission in the first centuries—identity, power, worldview, and cultural disruption—remain central to how the good news advances today. This book is an invitation to rediscover the mission of God in the archaeological record and to discern its enduring relevance for faithful witness in the twenty-first century.
Endorsements (4)
“I’ve visited more than ten places where the Apostle Paul once walked, and I can honestly say I wish I’d had this book in hand during those visits—I would have learned so much more! Yet even more importantly, this book demonstrates that the early Jesus movement was deeply and intelligently engaged with its surrounding culture. By skillfully tracing the language, symbols, and social contexts of the first centuries, Michael Cooper shows how the early church used polemical parallelism to reveal that Jesus is better. Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement masterfully weaves missiology, ecclesiology, and archaeology into an engaging and accessible narrative. Only Michael Cooper could have written this book.”
“I applaud Michael Cooper for this scholarly robust undertaking. His most transcendent observation is: We still have so much to learn. Cooper demonstrates the truth of this maxim by enlightening the missiology of movements with the empirical evidence of archeology.”
“Michael Cooper has provided not just information concerning the historical and archaeological context for the Seven Churches, but he has also given us a template for utilizing the interdisciplinary approach of missiology with archaeology, shall we say, ‘archaeological missiology?’ We often forget that the gospel advanced to Asia Minor, not on the backs of theologians, but through apostolic missionary bands. The fruit of those labors can be seen in the soil and the recent and rapidly increasing excavations in the major mission field from which ancient Ephesus became a hub. We need to learn from that context; Cooper is showing us how.”
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